Real-Time Marketing at Gaming Machines

ABSTRACT

A program for rewarding players for gaming at a casino establishment provides a player with real-time incentives while the player is playing at a gaming machine in the casino. Information about the player and/or the player&#39;s gaming activity is collected while the player is at a gaming machine in a casino. This information is used by a marketing system to select an incentive to provide to the player. The incentive is then delivered to the player, for example manually by a casino employee or automatically using a printer or other mechanism at the gaming machine. Various types of incentives can be provided to a player, including incentives designed to provide the player with an experience that is favorable to the casino and incentives designed to keep the player gaming in a casino for a longer amount of time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/426,867,filed Jun. 27, 2006. This application also claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/695,221 filed Jun. 28, 2005. The contentsof these documents are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to systems and methods for rewardingplayers for gaming at casino establishments, and in particular toproviding players with real-time incentives while a player is playing ata gaming machine in the casino.

2. Background of the Invention

Commercial enterprises use various methodologies to reward and provideincentives for their customers. Rewarding customers often takes intoaccount the value of the customers to the business. For example, anenterprise may value its customers based on the amount of revenue theenterprise is likely to make from the customer's commercial activity.Identifying customers that generate more revenue for the enterpriseallows the enterprise to identify and target those customers forfostering close relationships with them. Enterprises seek to retainthese valued customers by keeping them loyal to the enterprise, which isoften accomplished through special offers and deals. Many enterprisesoffer promotions or other programs in which patrons earn value that canbe redeemed for goods or services. Such systems are found in manyindustries, including frequent flyer miles offered by airlines andpoints offered by many credit card companies.

Complimentaries (commonly referred to as “comps”) and other types ofincentives are commonly used in casino environments to increase customertraffic and stimulate specific customer behavior. From a casino'sperspective, the value of the casino's patrons, or players, is oftenbased on each player's gaming activity. Gaming activity may include, forexample, time gambling, average and total bets, coin in, and othermeasures of gaming volume or rate of play or a value thereof. The casinobenefits from the player loyalty that such a comps promotion creates.Casinos typically use various combinations of comps and other incentivesthat are believed to reward players for their gaming activity mostappropriately. One such program gives players rewards players bygranting credits (called “points”) that can be redeemed for cash or cashequivalents.

Determining which players were the “high rollers” and were worth givingcomps and other incentives to used to be essentially ad hoc and entirelyup the judgment of the casino manager, without any significant elementof technological support. As a result, awarding of incentives wastypically limited to players of table games (e.g., blackjack, craps, orbaccarat), where the player's betting could be observed by a table orpit boss who “rated” the player based on the boss's estimate of theamount of time the player gambled and their average bet. Later-developedslot tracking programs offered the capability to track player betting inslot machines, and in some cases during table play. These slot trackingprograms enabled casinos to determine more precisely how much aparticular player had gambled in a particular period of time on one ormore slot machines. As a result, casinos became able to offer incentivesto slot players, who were also valuable to the casino, not only to thehigh roller table players.

The incentives offered by casinos include items such as free ordiscounted rooms, vouchers for meals or shows, and coupons for servicesand the like. Typically, comps are distributed by mailing the player avoucher as well as by providing vouchers at distribution locations inthe casino. Some casinos allow players to use a kiosk located on thecasino floor to check their ratings and comp level, print vouchers forcomps, and/or redeem vouchers.

But the problem with existing comp systems is that they still requirethe player to leave the gaming machine in order to obtain a comp. Thatis, existing comp systems do not provide incentives in real-time, whilea player is playing at a gaming machine. Because of this limitation,existing systems cannot provide an incentive to a player to continuegaming, since the player will have left the gaming machine, and possiblythe casino, before the incentive can be delivered. Moreover, systemsthat provide offers and other incentives to players after the playershave stopped playing miss out on the opportunity to communicate with theplayer at the most relevant moment when the player is gaming at amachine in the casino. Offers and incentives delivered after the playeris done playing, received perhaps in the mail long after a player's tripis over, are not as effective as they would be if provided while theplayer is at a gaming machine. If received after a player has left thecasino, an incentive cannot affect behavior of the player at the gamingmachine.

Accordingly, what are needed are automated techniques and systems thatallow a casino to direct marketing incentives toward a player while theplayer is at a gaming machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the limitations of existing incentivesprograms by providing for real-time marketing offers and otherincentives that can be delivered to a player while the player is playingat a gaming machine. By delivering incentives to players in real time,the incentives can be tailored based on observed events and currentinformation about the player. Because the incentives can be based oncurrent data and delivered before that information becomes stale, morerelevant incentives can be provided to a player; thus, they can bespecifically designed to encourage the player to continue a gamingsession. Moreover, the incentives are provided in a time period in whichthey are more likely to be effective. This gives a casino the capabilityto analyze and intervene with its customers' gaming as they play atgaming machines in the casino—and, beneficially, before the customereither ends the gaming session or leaves the casino's property.Marketing to players during their play at a gaming machine allows acasino to dull the sting of losing players so they will return whileencouraging winning players to continue playing during the gamingsession or to start another gaming session in the near future.

In one embodiment, information about a player and the player's gamingactivity is collected while the player is at a gaming machine in acasino. This information is used by a marketing system to select anincentive to provide to the player. The incentive is then delivered tothe player, for example manually by a casino employee or automaticallyusing a printer, display system, or other mechanism at the gamingmachine. This allows the casino to provide players with more effectiveincentives to encourage gaming activity and generally improves theplayers' experience at the casino. Rather than waiting for incentives toarrive in the mail, players can receive and use the incentives whilethey are still on the casino floor.

One type of incentive is designed to provide the player with anexperience that is favorable and thereby to motivate the player toreturn to the casino. Such incentives may be thought of as “luck” basedincentives, as the resulting offer is designed to improve the player'sperception of winning at the casino. For example, research shows thatnew players are not likely to return to a casino if they losesignificantly during their first trip. Therefore, if a player loses apredetermined amount (measured, e.g., against a theoretic win rate for agaming machine) during a gaming session, the player is given an offerduring that gaming session. This offer is designed to make the player'soverall trip experience more positive in an attempt to ameliorate thenegative experience of the gaming loss itself, increasing the likelihoodof the player's making a second trip to the casino.

Another type of incentive is designed to keep the player gaming in acasino for a longer amount of time. Such incentives may be thought of as“worth upside” based incentives, as the offer produces an immediatevalue to the casino in terms of continued playing time. Worth upsideincentives are valuable to a casino if the incentive provided to theplayer costs less than the expected benefit of additional playing timethat the incentive causes. To maximize value to the casino, worth upsideincentives can target players whose characteristics indicate that animprovement in casino loyalty would result from an incentive. Forexample, if a customer has been gaming at a slot machine for severalhours and dinnertime is nearing, the player may be offered a free mealin the casino. In this way, the player is less likely to leave thecasino to eat and thus more likely to continue playing at the casinoafter dinner.

In other embodiments, the incentive selected for a player is also basedon the availability of resources throughout the casino. For example, ifthere are tickets available for a particular show and the show is aboutto start, the incentive may be an offer for free tickets to the show.Because these tickets were unlikely to be used anyway, the incentivedoes not present a significant cost to the casino but has a relativelylarge upside for the player.

The features and advantages described in this summary and the followingdetailed description are not all-inclusive. Many additional features andadvantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in viewof the drawings, specification, and claims hereof. Moreover, it shouldbe noted that the language used in this disclosure has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter,resort to the claims being necessary to determine such inventive subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a user interface for managing selection and delivery ofincentives to players on a casino floor, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a voucher used to deliver an incentive to a player, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention in which incentives aredelivered manually.

FIG. 3 is a display on a gaming machine for communicating an incentiveto a player, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention in whichincentives are delivered electronically.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system for providing players withincentives in real time, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

The figures depict one embodiment of the present invention for purposesof illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromthe following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structuresand methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing fromthe principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Incentives Overview

Embodiments of the invention allow for real-time marketing directed toplayers while they are using gaming machines (e.g., slot machines andvideo gaming machines) in a casino environment. By providing anincentive to a player while the player is still playing at a gamingmachine, or at least while the player is still inside the casino, theincentive can be specifically based on the player's current gamingperformance and circumstances. This is because the incentive may beprovided to the player not only based on static information about theplayer but also on dynamic information about the player's gamingactivity as well as conditions in the casino. In addition, the incentivecan be designed for redemption or use in the immediate or near future,which further encourages the player to continue a gaming session orstart a new gaming session in the near future. Because of the additionalinformation about casino resources that is available to the casino whenselecting incentives and the delivery of incentives to players whilestill gambling, incentives can be made much more effective. It alsoenables a great number of marketing possibilities for marketing directedat casino patrons that were not feasible without real-time methods.

Various marketing methodologies can thus be employed to enhance aplayer's experience while gambling in a casino. In turn, the enhancedexperience encourages the player to play for longer and to return to thecasino more often. The marketing methodologies enabled by embodiments ofthe invention enhance the player's experience by providing the playerwith one or more incentives. An incentive may take any of a number offorms, depending on the marketing program. In one embodiment, theincentive includes one or more of: cash, comps, reward credits,merchandise, meals, lodging, tickets for a show or use of anotherresource in the casino, or just a friendly personalized greeting. Thetype of incentive and when to offer it to the player are chosen toadvance whatever marketing strategy is desired by the casino.

In one embodiment, the incentives offered to a player as describedherein are bonus incentives. With bonus incentives, other playerbenefits, like comps, reward credit balances, and other offers by mail,are not affected by incentives that are offered to players in real-timeat gaming machines. In this way, an incentives program conducted in acasino need not affect other promotions offered at the casino or among anumber of locations in a casino enterprise.

In a general methodology in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention, incentives are provided to a number of players who aregambling at gaming machines throughout a casino. The incentive providedto a given player is determined based on a set of rules that select anappropriate incentive using information about the player and/or aboutthe player's activity at the gaming machine, and optionally usinginformation about the local casino environment, including availableresources. In one embodiment, the information about each player and theplayer's gaming activity is collected using an automated player trackingsystem described below. Information about a player may include personaland demographic information about the player, historical gaming activitydata for the player, a value ranking or tier level for the player, theplayer's personal preferences, and other types of static data about theplayer collected by the casino. A player's gaming activity may includedynamic information about the player's experience at the gaming machine,including gaming machine data such as a theoretical win rate for themachine and the like; a play time threshold, e.g., for the game averageand for the player average; a buy in metric, such as coin in average, orcoin in customer average; and a performance metric, e.g., actual lossversus machine average or customer average.

Based on the information collected about a player, one or moreincentives may be selected for the player based on the collectedinformation about the player and the player's gaming activity. Theincentives may also be selected based on the availability of resourceslocated in or controlled by the casino, such as available seats for ashow or the utilization of a restaurant. The time of day may be used asa proxy for the availability of resources, for example, assuming that abuffet will be more available during off-peak meal times. By taking intoaccount casino resources when selecting incentives, asset and capacityutilization can be improved. Previous systems in which incentives arenot provided in real time to players lack this ability, as when theincentives are delivered—and hence the status of the casino'sresources—would generally not be known.

Selecting an incentive for a player involves determining whether theplayer should be offered an incentive, the type of incentive to offerthe player, and when to offer the incentive. Preferably, these tasks areperformed in accordance with a set of rules. The rules may be adjustedfrom time to time by casino marketing staff as desired to alter themarketing directed towards players at gaming machines. This provides thecasino with flexibility in testing and implementing a variety ofincentives programs.

Once an incentive is selected for a player at a gaming machine, it isdelivered to the player, preferably at the gaming machine or at leastbefore the player exits the casino. In one embodiment, delivery ofincentives is performed manually by a casino employee. Responsive to theselection of an incentive for a player, a casino employee is notified ofthe incentive, the player, and the location of the player (e.g., thespecific gaming machine that the player is currently using), anddispatched to offer the incentive to the player. In one embodiment, theemployee monitors a computer terminal 115 (described in more detailbelow in connection with FIG. 4) to check for new incentives forplayers.

Shown in FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a user interface, which may run onthe terminal 115 and displays all qualifying players or just the playersfor which incentive needs to be delivered. An employee may refer to theuser interface to identify players throughout the casino and determinethe status of any incentives that have been offered or need to beoffered to the players. As shown in the example interface of FIG. 1, theemployee may refer to the interface to view information for each gamingsession, such as the identity of the player 10, a rating or statusassociated with the player 15, the location or identification of theparticular gaming machine 20, the current duration of the session 25,and any offers 30 generated for the player along with the rule 35 thattriggered the offer. Beneficially, the user may click on columns tofilter and/or sort the entries in the gaming sessions list by theparticular attributes that are viewable on the interface. In this way, acasino employee can easily review the list for all players who havequalified for a particular type of incentive. In addition tocommunicating information to a casino employee to allow the employee tomanage the incentives program, the interface may allow the employee toprint incentives for delivery.

In one embodiment, when an employee notices a new incentive selected fora player, the employee (or another employee) obtains a physical copy ofthe incentive in the form of a voucher or other printed or encoded media(e.g., a magnetic stripe card with the incentive encoded as data). Theemployee then manually delivers the incentive by going to the gamingmachine at which the player is playing and offering the incentive to theplayer. In one embodiment, the employee then uses the user interface toreport on whether the offer was delivered successfully. This reportingmay be done using the buttons 40 next to each session in the “options”field in the interface. For example, the employee may report that theplayer was delivered the incentive, that the player was offered theincentive but declined it, that the player was not found, or that theemployee decided not to offer the incentive to the player. In this way,the casino can keep track of the incentives program and how manyresources are being used by it.

In another embodiment, a casino employee is dispatched to the gamingmachine via a paging system. Automated systems for dispatching casinoemployees to gaming machines are described in U.S. application Ser. No.09/782,616, filed Feb. 12, 2001, which is incorporated by reference inits entirety. Once at the gaming machine where a player has beenplaying, the employee checks the player's identification, fills out avoucher for the incentive and gives the voucher to the player.Alternatively, the employee may bring a pre-printed voucher obtainedfrom a central printer station or may print the voucher on demand at thegaming machine using a portable printer.

FIG. 2 shows an example voucher that can be used for this purpose. Afterthe voucher is delivered to a player, the employee may deposit a copy ofthe voucher information (e.g., from a carbon copy or stub from thevoucher) for later auditing purposes and confirm the transaction with aslot dispatch system. Confirming the transaction may be to indicate thatthe offer was accepted or declined or that the player was not found, andthis may be done via the user interface as described above. Confirmationhelps the casino to track the success of its incentive system. Manualdelivery of incentives in real time provides the player with the feelingof having a very personalized experience.

In an alternative embodiment, the delivery of incentives may also beautomated. Automated delivery of incentives may result in a faster,nearly immediate, delivery of incentives to the player, thus increasingthe chance of a successful delivery while the player is still playing atthe gaming machine. To offer an incentive to a player at a gamingmachine electronically, the offer may be communicated to the player viaa display system on or near the gaming machine. In one embodiment, shownin FIG. 3, the display is a touch screen color LCD display. A touchscreen display allows the player to accept or decline the offer orprovide any other information requested by the system. Alternatively orin addition, a physical copy of the incentive may be printed by aprinting system at or associated with the gaming machine. A systemarchitecture for performing these functions at individual gamingmachines is described in more detail below.

In other embodiments, incentives are delivered to players via a pager, awireless-enabled PDA, a cell phone, or another wireless device. Portablecustomized devices may be provided to registered players (such aspagers) or the broadcaster may transmit wireless messages to devicesowned by the players (such as cell phones) and registered with thecasino. Delivery of offers to a wireless device avoids the problem ofnot being able to locate a player, for example if the player switches toanother gaming machine. It also has the benefits associated withautomated delivery of incentives described above.

Accordingly, a number of different types of incentives can be providedto the players at gaming machines in a casino to increase the players'gaming activity at the casino. Offers that provide incentives to playerscan be designed in various ways. For example, some offers provide theplayer with a motivation to keep gaming, while other offers provide theplayer with a favorable experience to motivate the player to returnanother time.

In one embodiment, the offer is an incentive designed to provide theplayer with an experience that is favorable to the casino, thusmotivating the player to return to the casino. Such an incentives may bethought of as “luck” incentives, as they improve the player's perceptionof winning at the casino, or at least they lessen the player'sperception of having lost money playing at the casino. These types ofincentives are not random (at least not completely random), but they aredesigned to give the experience or impression of luck. Because luckincentives are generated in response to a player's losing money,monetary incentives may be the most effective achieve the goal of theluck incentive. The table below illustrates some example rules forgenerating luck incentives.

Rule Criteria Unlucky: 0 prior Trips AND Today's Loss >= 4x TheoreticalWin 1st Trip AND Minimum of $50 loss Today Unlucky: 1 prior Trips ANDToday's Loss >= 4x Theoretical Win 2nd Trip AND Minimum of $50 lossToday Unlucky: 2 prior Trips AND Today's Loss >= 4x Theoretical Win 3rdTrip AND Minimum of $50 loss Today Unlucky: 4 or more trips in past 4months AND Today's loss >= 4x 4+ Trips Theoretical Win AND Minimum of$100 Loss Today (Existing AND 6 month cumulative Actual > 4X 6 monthCustomer) Theoretical Win AND 6 month cumulative Actual >$1000The rules provided above are just examples of possible rules for luckincentives, and any combination of appropriate criteria can be appliedto achieve the goal of a luck incentive.

The first rule here is designed to identify a player who is a new playerat the casino, in that they do not have any prior trips to the casino.Research has shown that new players who lose during the first trip to acasino are highly unlikely to return the casino at a later date or time,because they view themselves or the casino as unlucky. Accordingly, thefirst rule allows the casino to identify these players and then offerthan an appropriate incentive to change their perception of themselvesand their experience at the casino into a positive one. These andsimilar rules may be called as ‘player loss mitigation rules,’ as theyare designed to identify players who have likely developed a negativeimpression of the casino as a result of losing some amount of moneyduring their gaming session or trip(s).

Another class of incentives can be labeled “worth upside” incentives.Worth upside incentives are designed to keep players gaming in a casinofor a longer amount of time, thereby providing an immediate value to thecasino in. Accordingly, these incentives should be cost less than theexpected benefit of additional playing time obtained from the incentive.To maximize value to the casino, worth upside incentives can targetplayers whose characteristics indicate that an improvement in casinoloyalty would result from an offer. The table below illustrates someexample rules for generating luck incentives.

Rule Criteria Frequency Today's Theoretical Win > $100 AND 12 monthAverage Upside Daily Theoretical Win > $100 Decliners 3 or more trips inpast 4 months AND number of trips in past 1 month is less than 50% ofaverage number of trips in prior 3 months AND 12 month Average DailyTheoretical Win > $100 Reactivated 12 month Average Daily TheoreticalWin > $50 AND 6 Customer month cumulative Actual = 0 AND No ratedactivity in last six monthsIt can be appreciated that these three rules target customers fordifferent worth upside possibilities. The Frequency Upside rulegenerates an incentive designed to keep a good customer coming back tothe casino (as the offer is good for a limited time, such as one week);the Decliners rule targets players who are coming to the casino andgambling less often; and the Reactivated Customer rule rewards a playerwho had not visited the casino in a long time. In one embodiment, anoffer generated by the Frequency Upside rule is valid for one week only,to encourage a player to return to the casino sooner. The rules providedabove are just examples of possible rules for worth upside incentives.As new worth upside potential is identified by a casino, rules for newworth upside incentives can be added to target these opportunities.

Using a flexible rules-based system, other types of incentives can bemade to advance the business goals of the casino. For example, tofacilitate yield management of amenities and services in the casino, therules may be based at least in part on the availability of resources inthe casino. Rules may also be designed to cross-sell gaming machines.For example, if a player is using a gaming machine having a relativelylow theoretical win for the casino, the player can be provided anincentive such as free credits to play another gaming machine that has ahigher theoretical win. The casino thus wins in the long term bymotivating the player to switch to a more profitable gaming machine.Similarly, incentives may be provided for redemption at other propertylocations, thus encouraging the player to visit another property.

Using personal information about a player, the casino can also recognizeand reward a player on his or her birthday, such as with a birthdaygreeting and a nominal prize. Or, if a player has been playing for apredetermined amount of time, the player can be offered an incentive asa “luck builder,” rewarding the long period of play that is profitablefort the casino. In yet another example, incentives may be offered whena player previously gave a poor customer satisfaction score, therebyattempting to make up for a previous bad experience.

As can be seen from the individual rule examples above, each of therules uses either or both current gaming performance information for theindividual player (e.g., today's theoretical win) and historicalinformation (e.g., a twelve-month average theoretical win). Again, theabove rules are merely exemplary, and in practice it is expected thatmany different specific luck-based and worth-based rules can beimplemented.

System Architecture

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system for practicingembodiments of the incentives methodology at a property 100, which maybe a casino or other gaming establishment. In one embodiment in which anenterprise includes a number of properties 100, each property 100preferably includes a gateway server 110 for coupling a local network120 (such as a LAN) at the property 100 to a wide area network (WAN)150. This allows multiple properties 100 to share and exchange data. Inaddition, the property 100 preferably includes one or more localoperator terminals 115 (such as a PC or a dumb terminal) coupled to theLAN 120, allowing the casino personnel to access the system from theproperty 100. Having an operator terminal 115 at each property 100allows local casino employees to manage the incentives programs at theproperty level, in real-time, and in response to player or casino needs.

In one embodiment, the gateway server 110 includes an API for sendingdata pertaining to local player activity over the WAN 150 to otherproperties or to a central data warehouse, such as the enterprise datawarehouse (EDW) 128 and a patron database 122. The gateway server 110communicates with several computer systems for monitoring and trackingoperations at the particular property 100.

The PDB 122 provides the system with data regarding individual players,or players in a casino context. The PDB 122 preferably includes playeraccounts for players from all of the supported enterprise properties100. The PDB 122 can be a centralized database or a distributed orfederated database with segments of the database located at variousproperties 100. In one embodiment, each player account in the PDB 122includes detailed information such as the player's personal information,preferences, interests, gaming and lodging history, credit rating, complevel, customer value measures, and accumulated credits. A player'scustomer value is a measure of the player's value to the casino based onthe player's betting activity, and optionally based on other activitiesof the player from which the casino derives revenue or value. In apreferred embodiment, the customer value measure is a theoretical winvalue is determined according to the player's betting activityaccumulated at any of the properties affiliated with the enterprise.Credits may be determined according to player betting activity, but theymay also be augmented by other types of activities as well and byspecial offers and various other promotional programs. These otheractivities include but are not limited to making a reservation, stayingin a hotel, purchasing an item in a retail environment, eating at arestaurant, and attending a show or other events. In another aspect ofan embodiment, PDB 122 is coupled via the WAN 150 to the EDW 128uploading player activity information for further analysis.

In one embodiment, players are issued tracking cards to interface withthe system and thereby allow for tracking of their activities andidentification of the players at locations in the casino such as gamingmachines 185. Each tracking card preferably includes a magnetic strip,microchip, or other mechanism for storing machine-readable data thereon.When a player performs some activity at a property, the player may usethe tracking card to interface with the system. For example, in the caseof magnetic strip cards, the player inserts the card through into cardreader (i.e., “card in”). Specifically for tracking player betting, aslot machine or other gaming machine 185 includes a magnetic stripe cardreader (not shown), which is adapted to receive the player trackingcards. The incorporation of card readers into gaming machines 185 is astandard practice and well known to those of skill in the art. In analternate or additional method of tracking player activity, the playeror enterprise personnel can manually enter a player ID number into aterminal 115 coupled to the system.

Depending on the services offered at a property 100, any combination ofthe following systems might be used to gather player activity data: aCasino Management System (CMS) 140, a Lodging Management System (LMS)150, an Event Management System (EMS) 160, a Point of Sale System (POS)170, a Slot Monitoring System (SMS) 180, and a Pit Tracking System (PTS)190. U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,647, “National Customer Recognition System andMethod,” the contents of which are fully incorporated by referenceherein, explains how a CMS 140, a LMS 150, an EMS 160, a POS 170, a SMS180, and a PTS 190 are used to track players' gaming and non-gamingactivity at a plurality of affiliated casino properties communicativelycoupled by a WAN. One suitable system for managing some or all of thesepoint-of-sale operations is the 9700 Hospitality Management System(HMS), offered by MICROS Systems, Inc. The 9700 HMS is specificallydesigned to handle high usage, multiple revenue center environments, andit enables flexibility in the development of custom point of saleapplications.

The CMS 140 is responsible for overall management of the tracking ofplayer activity, and the determination of reward credits to be given toeach player based on such activity. The CMS 140 receives data describinga player's activity from the various other systems, as further describedbelow, makes the appropriate calculations for earned reward credits, andupdates the player's account in the PDB 122.

The SMS 180 comprises a computer system that monitors and tracks betsmade by players at the various gaming machines 185 at the property 100.Gaming machines 185 may include slot machines, video poker machines, orthe like. In a preferred embodiment, bet tracking is accomplishedthrough a card reader 189 associated with a gaming machine 185. A playerinserts his tracking card in the card reader 189 to initiate bettracking and removes it to terminate bet tracking. Preferably, aplayer's betting activity at a gaming machine 185 is logged in real timein the SMS 180 so that the information is provided to the CMS 140 beforethe gaming session is terminated. Bet tracking data accumulated by theSMS 180 includes the identification of the games played, the amount ofcoin-in, the number of credits won, the number of credits played, theamount won or lost, and the time period that the player played the game.U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,361, the contents of which are fully incorporated byreference herein, describes a system for tracking the betting activityof casino players at gaming machines. In one embodiment, the SMS 180comprises the Slot Data System (SDS), a data collection system for slotaccounting and player tracking produced by Bally's Gaming and Systems.

In one embodiment, each of the gaming machines 185 includes or iscoupled to a display system 187 and/or a printing system 188. Thedisplay system 187 communicates general play status information to aplayer, such as coin-in, money won or lost, and information about rewardcredits earned. The display may also communicate service messages to theplayer (e.g., that the player's room or a dinner reservation is ready).This display preferably occurs in real time (e.g., the amount of coin-incounts down and then resets at the end or beginning or a gamingsession), although the actual earning and posting of base credits to theplayer's account occurs on CMS 140 after the player removes his cardfrom the card reader 189. The display 187 is further configured toreceive data from the SMS 180, including data about incentives selectedfor a player at a gaming machine 185. In this way, once an incentive isselected for a player in accordance with the incentives programdescribed herein, the display system 187 can be the means to offer thatincentive to a player. In one embodiment, the display 187 is aninteractive LCD touch screen display, allowing the player to respond tomessages, e.g., to accept or decline an offered incentive.

The printing system 188 is also coupled to the SMS 180 to receive dataregarding incentives offered to a player at the corresponding gamingmachine 185. In some embodiments of the incentives program describedherein, to deliver an incentive to a player at a gaming machine 185, theprinting system 188 prints a coupon for the incentive. The player canthen redeem the coupon for the incentive in another location in thecasino.

In one embodiment, the CMS 140 includes or is coupled to a broadcastingsystem 210, such as a 802.11 transmitter, that enables a secure,wireless environment. In this way, offers can be delivered to playersover a wireless LAN to properly equipped wireless devices held by theplayers, as described above.

The PTS 190 is used to track player betting at gaming tables 195. Likegaming machines 185. The PTS 190 is supported on a computer system thattransmits player betting data to the CMS 140. In one embodiment, the PTS190 uses card readers 189 associated with players' positions at thegaming tables 195 to track their betting activity. Alternatively, anemployee of the enterprise, such as a pit boss, manually enters aplayer's gaming data into the PTS 190. In one embodiment, data regardingbetting activity include a player's time at a gaming table 195 and thetable's minimum bet. U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,912, the contents of which arefully incorporated by reference herein, describes a system forautomatically tracking the betting activity of casino players at gamingtables. Alternatively, tracking of player betting at gaming tables isprovided via a terminal 115 located in the pit near the tables. A playerprovides her player tracking card to a casino employee (e.g., a pitboss) who swipes the tracking card through a card reader 189 at theterminal 115 to initiate the player's session. The employee can thenobserve the player's betting, and manually enter this information intothe terminal 115, such as average amount bet, length of play, and soforth. U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,482, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,912, bothincorporated by referenced herein, describes two different embodiment ofa PTS 190 that may be used for tracking table play.

The LMS 150 comprises the software and hardware for managing hoteloperations within the casino, including reservations, room service, andother activities associated with hotel operations. In a preferredembodiment, the LMS 150 communicates with the CMS 140 to search locallyfor selected customer information available on that system. However, LMS150 may include its own local data store for player data specific to theproperty 100. The LMS 150 transmits data regarding players' lodgingactivity to the PDB 120 when players check in and out of a hotel. In anembodiment, a player's lodging data includes the dates that the playerstayed at a particular property and the type of rooms. This data mayalso be updated to a central PDB via the application server 102. Inaddition, the LMS 150 preferably transmits lodging data upon a requestfrom the application server 102 (via the local gateway server 110). Thelodging data includes, for example, the dates that a player stays at ahotel, room service activity, and billing information due to theplayer's stay in the hotel. In one embodiment, the LMS 150 comprises theLodging Management System, a data management system for hospitalityindustries produced by Inter-American Data, Inc.

The EMS 160 comprises software for handling ticketing information,reservations, and sales. The EMS 160 compiles player activity data whenplayers purchase tickets for an event (such as a show at the property),make reservations for an event, and attend the event. The EMS 160transmits this data to the application server 102 upon a requesttherefrom (via the local gateway server 110).

The POS 170 comprises accounting software for operating restaurants andretail venues within the property as well as software for transmittingcharge information to the other management systems. For example, datarelating to meals charged to rooms are transmitted from the POS 170 tothe LMS 150, and data relating to redeemed meal comps are transmittedfrom the POS 170 to the CMS 140. The gateway server 110 receives datarelating to player's purchases at a property from the POS 170 andtransmits the data to the application server 102. This purchasing dataincludes, in an embodiment, the items or services purchased, therestaurant or retail venue where purchased, and the purchase amounts.

The property 100 preferably includes one or more customer serviceinterfaces (CSI) 130. In one embodiment, a customer service interface130 comprises a computer having an output display and a user input, suchas a card reader 189 and a touch screen. Players can access informationfor their account with a customer service interface 130, e.g., byswiping their cards through the card reader 189. The customer serviceinterface 130 may be housed in a kiosk or other user accessible housing.In one embodiment, the CSI 130 receives player data by way of theirtracking cards swiped at customer service interfaces 130 located atvarious venues throughout the property 100. The CSI 130 transmits thereceived data to the PDB 120 to determine the identity of the player andany required data in the player's account (such as name, address, andany preferred customer status). In particular, the CSI 130 enablescustomers to view the reward credit balance, and to issue themselvesredeemable “comp” tickets or cash voucher according to a provided menuof comps and their associated number of credits. In one embodiment,player may be directed to a CSI 130 on the property 100 to collect anincentive offered to the player.

Data related to each player's activity at a property 100, as collectedby any of the management systems described herein, are communicated tothe CMS 140, for analysis and determination of appropriate rewardcredits. The CMS 140 updates the PDB 122 with the results of suchanalyses, including updating a player's account by incrementing (ordecrementing) the player's reward credit balance. Because each property100 tracks player betting activity, awards reward credits and/or otherincentives based on such activity, and updates the PDB 122, theenterprise can reward players based on their overall betting (and otheractivity) at all of the casino properties. This cross-property nature ofthe system, in combination with the fixed and variable credit rateschedules, enables the enterprise to reward players with incentivesbased on their overall worth to the enterprise and/or from their overallbetting activity, while also allowing individual ones of the properties100 to reward the player based on property-specific factors or rules. Tomaintain all account data up to date, the data processed by the localmanagement systems are periodically updated to central PDB 122, e.g., ina batch process. In one embodiment, this update synchronizes databetween multiple storage properties (i.e., PDB 122 and local storesassociated with the CMS 140 at each property 100) to enable enterprisepersonnel at any property 100 to access the most recent and accuratedata. When this configuration is employed with a WAN 150 having limitedbandwidth, the data synchronization is preferably done when traffic onWAN 150 is low to minimize interference with other on-line data accesstransmissions.

The CMS 140 is responsible for receiving player betting data from theSMS 180 and the PTS 190 and updating the PDB 122 with this information.In one embodiment, the CMS 140 provides each player's gaming activitydata to an incentives engine 200, preferably in real time or updatedfrequently. The incentives engine 200 includes process logic forapplying the rules 205 to select incentives based on each player'sgaming activity. The incentives engine 200 thus tracks the players'activity in real time and selects incentives for the players based ontheir gaming activity at the gaming machines 185. Preferably, theincentives engine 200 selects incentives for the players using a set ofincentives rules 205, which may include any type of rule as describedabove. Once an incentive is selected for a player at the gaming machine185, the incentives engine 200 may communicate the incentive to thegaming machine 185 via the CMS 140 (for automatic delivery), or theincentives engine 200 may communicate the incentive to a casino employeethrough a terminal 115 in the casino (for manual delivery).

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention belimited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claimsappended hereto.

1. A computer-implemented method for providing real-time incentives to aplayer at a gaming machine in a casino, the method comprising:initiating a gaming session for a player at the gaming machine, thegaming machine having a low theoretical win for the casino; collectingreal time information about the player's gaming activity at the gamingmachine during the gaming session; determining automatically, during thegaming session, whether the player is expected to leave the casino afterthe gaming session, based upon the collected real time information;responsive to determining that the player is not expected to leave thecasino after the gaming session, selecting an incentive for the playerto switch to a new gaming machine having a high theoretical win for thecasino, the incentive selected based on the real time information; anddelivering the incentive to the player during or immediately after thegaming session.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the incentive isselected during the gaming session.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe incentive is selected immediately after the gaming session.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the gaming session begins upon an insertionin the gaming machine of a tracking card associated with the player andends upon withdrawal of the tracking card.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the selected incentive offsets a portion of the player's loss atthe gaming machine.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the informationabout the player's gaming activity includes one or more of: a durationof the gaming session, an amount of money won or lost during the gamingsession, and an amount bet during the gaming session.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the incentive is selected at least in part based on avalue of the player to the casino.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theincentive is delivered manually by a casino employee.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the incentive is delivered electronically at the gamingmachine.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the delivering the incentivecomprises: displaying the incentive to the player on a display screenassociated with the gaming machine; receiving an input from the playeraccepting the displayed incentive; and printing a voucher for theincentive at a printer associated with the gaming machine.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the incentive is for cash.
 12. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the incentive is for reward credits or complimentariesredeemable by the player for merchandise or services in a casinoenvironment.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the collectedinformation about the player's gaming activity comprises informationabout the player's loss rate while playing at a gaming machine, the lossrate indicating an amount of money lost by the player using the gamingmachine; and the selected incentive is selected responsive to the lossrate exceeding a predetermined amount and is tailored to offset aportion of the amount of money lost by the player.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein the predetermined amount is based on theoretical winrate of gaming machine.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein thepredetermined amount is a multiple of a theoretical win rate for thegaming machine.
 16. A computer-implemented method for providingreal-time incentives to a player at a gaming machine in a casino, themethod comprising: initiating a gaming session for a player at thegaming machine; collecting real time information about the player'sgaming activity at the gaming machine during the gaming session;determining automatically, during the gaming session, whether the playeris expected to leave the casino after the gaming session, based upon thecollected real time information; determining, during the gaming session,a current time of day, and whether the player has been at the gamingmachine for more than a specified duration; responsive to determiningthat the player has been at the gaming machine for more than thespecified duration and that the current time of day indicates that acasino resource will be more available at the current time relative toits availability during a peak meal time, selecting an incentive for theplayer to remain at the casino after the gaming session, the incentiveselected based on the real time information, availability of the casinoresource, the set of rules and the current time; and delivering theincentive to the player during or immediately after the gaming session.17. The method of claim 16, wherein the casino resource is a restaurantaffiliated with the casino, and wherein the incentive is a voucher for afree meal in the restaurant.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein thecasino resource is a show affiliated with the casino, and wherein theincentive is a voucher for a free ticket to the show.